Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records. It was released in North America a few days later by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 4× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there. It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album." The album featured one newly recorded song, "When Love & Hate Collide", which was released as a single on 2 October 1995. The collection's track listing varied by region, although none of the releases had any songs from the band's 1980 debut album, On Through the Night on the track listings. Overview One new track was recorded for this collection, "When Love & Hate Collide", previously a leftover from the Adrenalize recording sessions. The ballad became the band's highest-charting single in the UK, hitting No. 2 in the fall of 1995. The songs are the original LP versions, with the following exceptions: *"Pour Some Sugar on Me" is the video edit version. This version actually features an extended, distorted intro, making it longer than the Hysteria version, which has the shorter "Step inside, walk this way" intro. *"Rocket" is the single edit, which runs shorter than its LP counterpart. *"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" fades out slightly earlier than the LP version, where it segues into "Switch 625". Artwork, design, and packaging The art direction and design for Vault was handled by Exquisite Corpse with photography by Cythia Levine and Ross Halfin. Most covers of the album have a picture of an actual vault, while a limited edition two disc collection has a picture of a green eye with a vault inside the eye. The CD liner notes featured a three-page summary of the band's history by Peter Mensch, who appeared in two of the group's music videos. Although not featured on the North American release, other liner notes feature a note signed by the band members talking about the group's upcoming album, Slang. Track variations in different regions Although the releases of Vault had most of the same songs, there were some differences between the releases. Exclusive to the North American release of Vault: *"Miss You in a Heartbeat" Exclusive to the European release of Vault: *"Action" *"Make Love Like A Man" *"Heaven Is" Exclusive to the Japanese release of Vault: *"Rock! Rock! Til You Drop" *"Can't Keep Away From The Flame" (new track) "Foolin'" does not appear on the European release, but does appear on the North American release and the Japanese release. The Japanese release features the only official release of the song "Can't Keep Away From the Flame," a song which has never been released in other regions. It was later released as a B-side on some of the "Slang" singles. Track listing Personnel The following people contributed to Vault: *Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals, producer *Steve Clark – guitars, backing vocals *Phil Collen – guitars, backing vocals, producer *Rick Savage – bass, backing vocals, producer *Rick Allen – drums, backing vocals, producer *Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, backing vocals *Nigel Green – engineer *Pete Willis – guitars, backing vocals *Mike Shipley – mixing, producer, engineer *Vivian Campbell – guitars, backing vocals, producer *Pete Woodroffe – producer, engineer *Michael Kamen – string arrangements on "Two Steps Behind" and "When Love & Hate Collide" *Stevie Vann – backing vocals on "When Love & Hate Collide" *Randy Kerber – piano on "When Love & Hate Collide" *Bob Ludwig – mastering Charts Certifications